BOYS HOCKEY: Marshfield ousts Milton in Div. 1 South

Thursday

In a game of surges, where momentum seemed to be volleyed back and forth, the fifth-seeded Marshfield High boys hockey team had too much firepower for Milton Wednesday night at Gallo Arena, ousting the Wildcats 7-3 in first-round action of the Division 1 South Sectional tournament.

Marshfield jumped out in front, 3-0, in the first 7:23, only to have Milton rally with two goals before the first period ended.

The 12th-seeded Wildcats clamped down on defense in the second period, turning the wide-open game into a tight-checking slog in which the Rams outshot their foes by just a 5-2 margin, yet potted another goal to go up 4-2.

Marshfield looked golden when an early goal gave it a 5-2 edge before the third period was two minutes old, but Milton came scrambling back with a goal with half the period to go.

But the Wildcats (9-8-6) had run out of comebacks, and couldn’t reverse the tide of Marshfield offensive talent as the Rams pumped home two more tallies to clinch it.

Marshfield (17-6) is in the quarterfinals, awaiting the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 4 Duxbury (14-3-5) and No. 13 Xaverian (8-7-5).

“That was a great start when we went up 3-0,” Marshfield coach Dan Connolly said, “but then they came back out fired up and changed the momentum. Milton kept coming back and battled hard all night. They really clogged up the middle in the second period, and this was a close game where we were lucky to get a couple of goals late.”

Six different Rams scored, and seven different players had assists. Matt Burchill led the way with two goals and an assist, while Joe Admirand netted a goal and two assists, and Mike Carbone tallied three assists.

Pat Shea, Steve Harrington, Dave Cataldo and Will DeCoste also found the net.

“We like to see that well-balanced scoring,” Connolly said. “Each of our lines had two goals tonight, and our defense and goaltender (Jeff Nagle) played well. I always say the toughest tournament game is your first one, and a win like this is a good beginning that can only help our confidence.”

John Binda (two) and Connor Shea scored Milton’s goals.

“Every time we’d make it close, they’d get a quick one right back on us,” Milton coach Paul Noonan said. “Marshfield is a very good team – that’s why they were mentioned as a Super 8 candidate.

“That second period slowdown was a mutual thing – we put so much effort into our defense we didn’t get many shots ourselves.”

A senior-laden Milton team made the Div. 1 state final last winter, losing 6-2 to Burlington at TD Garden.

“We’ve got eight seniors, but we graduated a lot of players last year, and we’re a little inexperienced,” Noonan said. “This team is not tourney-tested, and tonight the better team won.”

Marshfield was controversially snubbed for a Super 8 bid last season and wound up losing its Div. 1 South opener to Braintree. This year the Rams insist there is no Super 8 envy.

“We are where we belong,” Connolly said. “Other teams might have a gripe about Super 8, but we don’t. It’s always nice to be mentioned in that conversation, of course, but they slotted us right where we belong this year.”

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